Myrddin ap Dafydd was born in Llanrwst in 1956. At the Welsh National Eisteddfod
in Rhymney in 1990 he won the bardic chair for his poem, Gwythiennau (‘Veins’).
He is the owner and manager of the publishing house, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch in Llanrwst, Gwynedd.

In giving us permission to translate and publish this poem he said: "My poem
refers to the traveller families who come to Wales from Ireland every summer to
carry out such tasks as repairing private roads, farm lanes and driveways. They
are descended from those who took to the roads of Ireland at the time of the
Great Famine."